Glassy crystals

In a perfect crystal at 0 K all atoms are ordered in a regular uniform way and the translational symmetry is therefore perfect. The entropy is thus zero. In order to become perfectly crystalline at absolute zero, the system in question must be able to explore its entire phase space the system must be in internal thermodynamic equilibrium. Thus the third law of thermodynamics does not apply to substances that are not in internal thermodynamic equilibrium, such as glasses and glassy crystals. Such non-ergodic states do have a finite entropy at the absolute zero, called zero-point entropy or residual entropy at 0 K. 

Boron trioxide is not particularly soluble in water but it slowly dissolves to form both dioxo(HB02)(meta) and trioxo(H3B03) (ortho) boric acids. It is a dimorphous oxide and exists as either a glassy or a crystalline solid. Boron trioxide is an acidic oxide and combines with metal oxides and hydroxides to form borates, some of which have characteristic colours—a fact utilised in analysis as the "borax bead test , cf alumina p. 150. Boric acid. H3BO3. properly called trioxoboric acid, may be prepared by adding excess hydrochloric or sulphuric acid to a hot saturated solution of borax, sodium heptaoxotetraborate, Na2B407, when the only moderately soluble boric acid separates as white flaky crystals on cooling. Boric acid is a very weak monobasic acid it is, in fact, a Lewis acid since its acidity is due to an initial acceptance of a lone pair of electrons from water rather than direct proton donation as in the case of Lowry-Bronsted acids, i.e. 

A molten metal alloy would normally be expected to crystallize into one or several phases. To form an amorphous, ie, glassy metal alloy from the Hquid state means that the crystallization step must be avoided during solidification. This can be understood by considering a time—temperature—transformation (TTT) diagram (Eig. 2). Nucleating phases require an iacubation time to assemble atoms through a statistical process iato the correct crystal stmcture... 

Fig. 8. Electron micrograph showing crystallization of icosahedral phase from glassy Pd—U—Si alloy.

Cane sugar is generally available ia one of two forms crystalline solid or aqueous solution, and occasionally ia an amorphous or microcrystalline glassy form. Microcrystalline is here defined as crystals too small to show stmcture on x-ray diffraction. The melting poiat of sucrose (anhydrous) is usually stated as 186°C, although, because this property depends on the purity of the sucrose crystal, values up to 192°C have been reported. Sucrose crystallines as an anhydrous, monoclinic crystal, belonging to space group P2 (2). 

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